William easby



EEraEn sTETEs 'QP-ATENE oEEicE.

WILLIAM EASBY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

DREDGING-IVIACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent 1\To1,7'27, dated August 25, 1840.

To all h-0m t may concern.' n

Be itI known that I, WILLIAM EAsBY, of the city of Vashington, in theDistrict of Columbia, have invented a new and useful improvement inmachines for deepening harbors, rivers, canals, and other places byexcavating and removing the mud from the bottoms thereof, called Easbysimproved dredging-machine, which is described as follows, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings of the same, making part of thisspecification.

Figure l is a perspective view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection of the main shaft and drums. Fig. 3 is a view of the under sideof the drop or shutter of the scoop. Fig. t, gearing of the windlass.Fig. 5, lever and lifting dog for raising the vertical anchors.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the figures.

The vessel A, Fig. l, for containing and supporting the several parts ofthe machine hereafter described is made of sufiicient size, strength,and buoyancy to answer the intended purpose, resembling generally someother vessels in use except at the bow, where it is recessed, as at B,for the purpose of allowing the bucket or scoop and poles to pass intothe space or recess at the bow in letting down and raising the scoop,&c., and excepting also at the sides where there'are attached by hingestwo segment wings C C, made movable so as to be raised un out of the waywhen required to carry the boat through locks and other narrow passes,which movable wings are furnished with guards or rails D which rest ondeck when they are turned over and down upon it. These segment wingsform part of a circular horse track E of greater diameter than the widthof the boat formed on deck between midships and the stern, and aresupported by movable sliding beams projecting through the sides of thevessel under said wings.

A perpendicular shaft F carrying two barrels Gr on which the chains Hand I are wound, is placed in the center of the circular horse track E,its lower gudgeon turning in an oil cup or box fixed on the keelson andits upper gudgeon turning in a box fixed in a cap piece of the frameerected on deck for supporting the several parts of the machinerequiring to be supported by it. This shaft F is turned by one or morehorses attached to the end of a horizontal sweep L fixed permanently tothe shaft. A seat M for the l driver or attendant is formed on theopposite end of the sweep.

The barrels C on which are wound the chains H attached to the scoop aremade of suitable material, of any convenient diameter, with rims at theends to keep the chains from slipping off in winding, which barrels turnwith the shaft when locked to it and loosely `on it when unlocked, onebarrel being always in gear while the other is out of gear, or both maybe outof gear when required.

The locking and unlocking and gearing and ungearing are effected bymeans of a vertical bolt N arranged against the shaft between thebarrels and held in place by staples inserted in the Shaft in which itmoves and attached to the short end of a horizontal lever O for raisingand lowering it in order to throw it in and out of gear alternately withthe upper and lower barrels into which it enters in mortises, in saidbarrels, the fulcrum of which lever is fixed on the upper side of thesweep near the shaft while its long end extends within reach of theattendant seated on the sweep, who raises and lowers the lever as hewishes to throw the barrels in and out of gear, said lever being held inits place by means of a spring catch P attached to the sweep and passingthrough the leverv in a mortise therein. The position of the lowerbarrel is below the deck, and the upper one above it. The main-chain Hfor raising the scoop extends horizontally from the upper barrel over apulley Q at the forward end of the frame, then down vertically tothebale or handle of the scoop, to which it is attached.

The scoop R for receiving the mud, &c., is made of stout wrought. ironin a very strong manner of a semi-oval shape, open on the upper side andclosed on the lower side by a shutter S or drop which' can be opened andclosed at pleasure by the attendant. The side toward the vessel isstraight, the opposite side and theV ends are curved. It is securedfirmly by straps, bars, bolts and pins to the ends of two parallel polesor rods T T connected together by a cross brace U. The straight side orback of the scoop, which is fastened to the oles, forms an obtuse anglewith it. The hinge of the shutter or drop may be construct/ed in theusual or most approved mode of such hinges. When closed it is secured bya catch V projecting downfromthe edge of the curved side of the scoopand passing through a mortise in the shutter near its edge to 'the underside of which drop is attached a right angled dog W which is forced by aspring sires to let the shutter drop, which draws other chain ners ofthe vessel to asecure anchorage.

the Vlower end for back the dog, contracts the spring, disengages thedog from the catch, the gravity It is of the shutter causing it to drop.

when

closed by striking agalnst the water the scoop is let down for a new'load. The parallel poles T to which the scoop is xed may be round orsquare and of any convenient `length and thickness. Shod with plates ofmetal to prevent wearing and extended through loops b fastened tocircular loose collars c turning on a horizontal shaft or windlass dwhich turns on gudgeons in boxes fixed to two inclined braces of theframe over the opening in the bow of the vessel, by manual power by acrank shaft and cogged gearing g Fig.` 4, for winding a chain fattachedto the cross brace u of the parallel poles T for raising them with thescoop to any required position, the aforesaid loops o serving as guidesfor the poles which.

moveupward and downward in them. An-

I leading from the lower barrel G on the main shaft F is attached to thescoop R for drawing it back when it is raised by the Vwindlass d andpoles T from the bottom, and being. drawn back suficiently far, or to`its required position, the barrel is disengaged which lets the scoopfall to the bottom. The main shaft and the windlass are both providedwith circular rac-ks and pawls of the usual construction. i p Vertical 4anchorsg are arranged at the corfor descending into the mud or bottomfor holding the vessel firmly Each of said ver-V tical anchors consistsof along heavy piece of square timber (g) pointed and shodon enteringthe bottom of harbors, rivers &c. It moves in vertical grooves formed inany convenientmanner inthe frame. Or instead of shoeing it there may bea sharp pointed bar of iron b inserted in the lower end of the anchortimber and properlyfsecured by bolts. A vertical rack is fastened on theside ofthe anchor toward thevessel intro which plays a lifting dog KFig. 5 attached to theshort end of a leverim forraising the anchor whosefulcrum is on `a horizontal cross piece of the to the extremity of "foredescribed.

frame; which lever is operated by manual power in raising the anchor,its gain being held by a common dog placed below it which is put in gearwith the rack `before beginning to raise the anchor and remainsconstantly in gear during .the operation- `and when the anchor is to belet down it is ungeared and moved out of the way. All the anchors areprovided in a similar manner to that just described.

yThe operation of this dredging machine isas follows: It'being properlyanchored at the place where the excavation is to be made in the mannerbefore described by the anchors d (g) `and the wings brought down totheir. proper position the horse is `driven around the circular track Econstantly without stopping during the operation, the changes of thebearingbeing effected-by the attendant while the horse is in motion. Hedraws the spring catch P toward him and raisesthe long end of the leverO which depresses the. short end carrying `down the bolt N and unlockingit from the upper bar-` rel GrV and at thesame time locking it with thelower barrel Gr, theupper barrelbeing thusfliberated from` the boltturnsloosely on the shaft F suffering the scoop R to descend suddenly tothe bottom of the river or harbor. The other barrel G being in gearwinds up the chain 1 attached to the hottomof the scoop anddraws it backtoward said barrel until it is brought over the place where theexcavation is to be made when the scoop descends to its place ofdestinat-ion at the same time the bolt isr drawn rfrom the lower barreland inserted `in the lupper one. The `lower barrel is then loose and theupperbarrel turns with the shaft, winds Vup the chain H, raises-thescoop with its load of earth, &c., until the drop S is nearly in ahorizontal position when the attendant draws the cordA a attached to theright angled ldog,` W, Fig. 3, which liberates it from the catch whenthe-drop falls and Vthe load is discharged upon or `into a receiverplaced below it.

What I claim as my invention and-which I desire to secure by LettersPatent consists m p .1. The arrangement of the barrels on theperpendicular shaft for `winding and unwinding the main chains incombination with the vertical `sliding bolt and lever for throwing thebarrels in and out of gear with the shaft by which the scoop or bucketis `alternately raised, lowered, and drawn back while the animal bywhichthe main shaft is turned continues to travel A around on thecircular track without interruption "as be- 2. `Also the combinationvand arrangement of "the parallel guide poles, chains, and windlass forraising the scoop so as to draw itback to its proper position `as beforedescribed, and this also claim in combination chine so that it may passthrough a canal with the scoop and the apparatus for disenlock or anyother narrow place as before degaging the drop or shutter to dischargethe scribed.

load, as described. WM. EASBY.

3. I also claim the arrangement of the Witnesses:

Wings of the horse track which can be raised V. E. HOWARD,

and thereby reduce the Width of the ma- WM. P. ELLIOT.

